— The over-educated morons who run college/minor league sports are at it again; looks like starting next March, the NCAA basketball tournament will now be 76 teams, instead of 68.
76 teams means six games on Tuesday, six more on Wednesday before the field is down to 64 teams, where it should be in the first place. for the first round on Thursday/Friday.
Expansion means that high major coaches who miss the NCAA’s will be on the hot seat for sure, especially with the NIL $$$ being thrown around.
— Speaking of which, only 71 early-entrant players are going into the NBA Draft this year, the lowest amount since 2003. College kids are getting paid; seems like most of them would rather get paid paying college ball than spend some time in the G League.
— Brendan Sorsby is a college quarterback who played two years for Indiana, then transferred to Cincinnati, played there for two years, then this offseason bolted to Texas Tech, where he was expected to be paid a boatload of NIL $$$$ ($5M or so).
But there’s a problem(s):
a) Cincinnati is suing to recover $1M of the money they paid him, citing breach of contract.
b) This week, Sorsby checked into a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction. Apparently, he made thousands of online prop bets on a lot of different sports.
Oy.
— Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson Tuesday; he took over the Phillies during the 2022 season. Here is his record:
2022- 65-46
2023- 90-72
2024- 95-67
2025- 96-66
2026- 9-19
Bad start this year, but firing the guy?
Bench coach Don Mattingly is the interim manager; his son Preston is the general manager of the Phillies, working under Dave Dombrowski.
Awkward.
Apparently Dombrowski reached out to hire former Red Sox manager Alex Cora, but Cora turned the job down.
Tuesday’s NBA games
76ers 113, Celtics 97
Joel Embiid scored 33 points in his second game back from appendicitis.
76ers outscored Boston 28-11 in the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists.
Celtics lead series, 3-2.
Knicks 126, Hawks 97
Jalen Brunson scored 39 points, had 8 assists.
Knicks led 35-22 after the first quarter.
New York shot 57% from the floor.
Knicks lead series, 3-2
Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 95
San Antonio led 65-45 at halftime.
De’Aaron Fox scored 21 points, had nine assists.
Portland shot only 35% from the floor.
San Antonio wins series, 4-1.
— Famous birthdays, April 29th:
Jim Hart, 82
Tom House, 79
Ron Washington, 74
Jerry Seinfeld, 72
Michelle Pfeiffer, 68
Uma Thurman, 56
Josh Booty, 51
Jay Cutler, 43
David Lee, 43
Zach McKinstry, 31
— Phillies 7, Giants 0
Phillies win Don Mattingly’s first game as interim manager.
Jesus Luzardo allowed two hits in 7 IP, struck out 8.
Trea Turner went 4-for-5, scored two runs.
— Rays 1, Guardians 0
Tampa Bay wins in sixth game in a row.
Nick Martinez allowed three hits in the first seven innings.
Tanner Bibee allowed one run in five IP, throwing 93 pitches.
— Orioles 5, Astros 3
Pete Alonso hit his 4th home run for the Orioles.
Shane Baz got 17 outs, got his first win with Baltimore.
Houston is 11-19, 3-11 in road games.
— AL West is struggling, from top to bottom:
15-14 A’s
15-16 Seattle
14-16 Texas
12-19 LA Angels
11-19 Houston
— Marlins 2, Dodgers 1
Janson Junk blanked the Dodgers for six innings.
Kyle Stowers went 2-for-5 with an RBI
Dodgers are 5-6 in their last eleven games.
— Cardinals 11, Pirates 7
Nolan Gorman homered, drove in three runs.
Top two hitters in St Louis lineup both scored three runs.
Pirates have lost three in row for first time this year.
— Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 0
Trey Yesavage got 16 outs, allowed four hits.
Kazuma Okamoto drove in two of Toronto’s three runs.
Blue Jays are 9-8 at home, 4-8 on the road.
